


Not The Only Nor The Last

by lemoncellbros



Series: Macaw's Works [24]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Injury Recovery, M/M, Nightmares, Sickfic, Stucky - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 10:19:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16808716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemoncellbros/pseuds/lemoncellbros
Summary: Steve gets shot on a mission with Bucky. He recovers from the injury just fine, but Bucky has a hard time accepting that he's okay.





	Not The Only Nor The Last

Steve hadn’t had Bucky take care of him like this since he was that small sickly kid in Brooklyn. Of course, he couldn’t get sick anymore because of the serum, but he could damn well get injured. And sure enough, one mission gone askew and Captain America was forced back into Steve Roger’s shoes, even if it was only for a bit.

The assignment was meant to be a milk run, just clearing up some random alien paraphernalia that had found itself being sold on the black market. This would usually be a task for Spider-Man, you know, small time crime, but he was unavailable due to some out of town field trip for school. Tony and Bruce were working on some new tech, Clint and Natasha were on an undercover mission in Bangladesh, and all the rest were occupied with miscellaneous tasks.

That left just Bucky and Steve. Not that they were complaining, of course. They were the best of friends, madly in love, and with complimentary fighting styles and acquired powers. The Avengers sent them to take care of a lot of random tasks that were too small for the entire team but too important for Spider-Man alone.

The mission began simple enough, with Steve and Bucky roughing up a couple of low-level thugs looking for some side cash, and moving on. They infiltrated the warehouse fairly easily, even locating some of the stolen tech in the process. And then, as the world would have it, a huge man and a some other imposing guys approached the couple with an assortment of weapons and a hankering for violence.

In the end, they’d won, but Steve took some pretty hard hits. The head honcho and his most of his groupies targeted Captain America first, which suited him just fine. Bucky took encroaching men down, one by one, but not before one fired their gun. The bullet hit Steve worryingly close to his lungs, only just missing them. Even before that, he’d been beat by an 7’ foot guy with a vengeance and mixed men with weapons. 

The moment Steve was hit, Bucky let The Winter Soldier take the wheel. When he’d first got home, he wouldn’t dare go near the place in his mind where the Soldier resided. Now, he occasionally let him loose to take over the fights he knew he couldn’t win. The Soldier detained the rest of the men in under five minutes, unblinking in his pursuits. 

Afterwards, Bucky didn’t leave Steve’s side, not at the hospital while they were patching them up, and not when they got back to their apartment. Surgeons at the hospital worked for hours extracting the bullet from Steve’s chest, fighting not only his super-soldier healing abilities that were trying to seal it in, but also Bucky, who was panicking in the lobby. No matter how many years nor how many battles Steve and Buck have fought together, the latter just can’t let go of the little guy who coughed up his lungs in Brooklyn all those years ago. 

So, when Steve finally got out of surgery and Bucky was allowed to see him, you can imagine the simultaneous tongue-lashing and praise he gave the other soldier. And the absolute meltdown he had when he finally accepted that he was okay. The nurses will deny they saw anything, but through the window looking into the ICU, anyone could have seen The Winter Soldier sobbing into Captain America’s hospital gown. Letting go of his fear and anger for the love of his life and embracing the fact that he was alive, with him. 

They only stayed a few more days at the hospital, just for the doctors to monitor Steve’s rapid healing in awe. Steve walked out of there just fine, hand in hand with Bucky. When they arrived home, Bucky crowded Steve onto the couch and insisted he stay there for as long as he deemed necessary. And Steve did, because he just can’t say no to those pleading brown eyes and the honest desperation in his boyfriend’s voice.

The first day on ‘couch rest’ was spent snuggling and catching up on the latest episodes of Game of Thrones. It was one of their favorite pastimes, getting to know this generation together. They were halfway through an episode when Steve noticed that Bucky was asleep, gently snoring in his embrace. Steve smiled as he watched Bucky’s long hair fluttered from his breath stroking it, basking in the peacefulness of the moment. But, in their lives, peaceful only lasts a moment.

Bucky’s previously calm face became mangled with panic, his even breathing becoming rapid and uneven. Quiet whimpers and a strangled “Steve!” fell from his lips before Steve was able to intervene. His heart squeezed with hurt at the thought of Bucky in pain over him. Steve gently shook Bucky, intoning his name in a smooth voice. Bucky’s eyes flew open, and he sat up wildly. It took him a few moments to take inventory of the room to see that he and Steve were alone and perfectly fine. His body slumped with relief and exhaustion.

Steve caressed his cheek softly, “What was that about, Buck?”

“Nothin,’ Stevie,” Bucky’s eyes refused to meet Steve’s.

“Couldn’t have been about nothin’ or you wouldn’t’ve had the dream at all,” Steve said civilly as Bucky rolled his eyes at him.

“Really Stevie, it’s nothin’ to worry about. Don’t go stressin’ yourself out over me, you gotta let your body heal,” Bucky insisted, eyes still avoiding Steve’s.

“Buck, I’m already healed. You don’t gotta worry about me, I’m fine. Is that what’s got you worried thin? ‘Cause I’m good, Buck,” Steve was practically pleading with Bucky to understand that he really was okay. Bucky finally met his eyes, only for Steve to see the tears threatening to spill.

“How am I supposed to not worry? Back in the day you’d die goin' outside and now you’re getting shot!” Bucky was shouting now, pacing in front of Steve. 

Steve stood silently and shoved his hand into his pocket. Bucky watched him reproachfully, worried at his lack of response. Steve held his hand out to Bucky, who watched warily as he unfurled his fist to reveal a mangled bullet sat in his palm.

“I asked the Doc for a solid. I knew this’d be tearing you up inside just as much as this bullet tore me up,” he held the bullet up, pinched between two fingers, “and the Doc’ll tell you, it tore me up. But I’m fine now, good as new. I’ve had plenty of bullets with my name on em,’ Buck. Don’t let this one be the one that does you in.”

He held the bullet out to Bucky, waiting patiently for him to take it. And he did, in his flesh hand, just as Steve knew he would. He stared at it for a moment, his expression filling with rage at the piece of broken metal in his hand. He moved the warm scrap from his right hand to his left, allowing the cool metal of his arm crush the warm metal of the bullet. He crushed it until it was barely the size of the ballpoint on a pen, and chucked it into the garbage.

He looked Steve in the eye then, rage replaced with reverence and gratitude. His eyes softened with his expression, and he stepped forward to embrace Steve carefully. He knew that wasn’t the only or the last bullet Steve would meet, but it was the only and last for now.


End file.
